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PA Renegades enjoying strong start to AAU season

04/27/2013, 10:45pm EDT

By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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One very good 16U team that’s likely to fly under the radar this summer is the PA Renegades. Without a true star on the squad, they don’t have quite the name recognition as area AAU teams like We-R-1 (Derrick Jones, Traci Carter), Team Final (Lamarr Kimble, Shawn Alston) or Philly Pride (Sam Foreman, Samir Doughty).

However, the Renegades have some pretty good talent on their squad, mostly consisting of players who haven’t yet had a chance to shine at their respective schools. After a solid showing in Pittsburgh last week at the first Hoop Group Jam Fest of the 2013 AAU season, they’re certainly playing with a lot of confidence.

“We made it to the Elite 8 in Pittsburgh, so we came here expecting to do big things,” Abington sophmore guard Matt Penecale told CoBL after the Rengade’s 64-53 win over Team Melo that sent them into the Sweet 16. “The competition’s great here, so we’re just having a good time trying to play.”

“That was a nice win, because (Team Melo)’s really aggressive with their defense,” Renegades coach Michael Nichols told CoBL after the first of the teams’ two wins on Saturday. “We got a little sloppy but we pulled it out. We have a great group of kids, they really share the ball, so it’s fun to coach.”

There’s heavy representation on the team from Germantown Academy, which loses eight seniors off its state-title winning team. Joe Stinson, a 6-foot-8 freshman, scored a whopping two points at the varsity level in 2012-13 but is a mobile big man who can block shots and run the floor.

Another Patriot who impressed was 5-11 point guard Tim Guers, who had 14 points in the win over Team Melo. Guers struggled to find playing time over the last two years behind Lafayette-bound Nick Lindner and Washington College’s James Drury, but he’s clearly benefitted from having those talented guards ahead of him.

“He’s grown like four or five inches over the last year and he’s just putting it all together right now,” Nichols said. “Going against those guys in practice, the guys he went against in practice every day, major different and his improvement in his game.”S

Sam Lindgren, a 6-4 sophomore wing for the Patriots, saw the most consistent court time of the three, averaging 5.2 ppg. The D-I prospect looks destined for the Patriot/Ivy Leagues but that could change if he continues to grow.

“Sam has come so far in the last year,” Nichols said. “Last year was his first year playing with us and the difference from then until now and with the GA coaching and what he’s getting here, he’s really taking off. He’s a big kid that can handle the ball like a guard and he can bury the three. He’s a pleasure to have.”

There’s also Archbishop Wood point guard Cody Fitzpatrick, a 5-8 dynamo who averaged 7.1 ppg last year but is averaging 16.3 through the first three games of the Philly Jam Fest, shooting 12-of-19 from 3-point range per stats kept by the team. Penn Charter sophomore Chase Kumor, a strong 6-3 wing, hits the boards hard and has a great basketball IQ.

The key might be Penecale, a 6-3 guard who considered played this season with the Jersey Shore Warriors before uncertainties about whether or not that team would have enough players ensured his to stay with the Renegades.

“I’ve been playing with them since I was like eight, so I was really unsure of what to do, and then that team just fell through so it was an easy decision,” Penecale said.

Penecale dropped 20 points in the Renegades’ second game of the day, a win over Cecil Kirk that sent them into their second consecutive Elite 8. Like Lindgren a likely Ivy/Patriot prospect, Penecale said he’s been hearing a bit from Princeton and Holy Cross.

If this group stays together, they could really turn a lot of heads on the AAU circuit over the next two seasons.